One candidate in the 50th Congressional District race gave $87,000 to charity, one lost money on Microsoft stock and a third earned $170,000 from a real estate sale, but lost nearly as much in real estate partnerships.

Those facts, and much more, were revealed in candidates' 2004 tax returns.

Eighteen candidates are hoping to replace former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham. The San-Diego Union Tribune asked them for copies of their 2004 returns, but three declined: retired Judge Victor Ramirez, real estate investor Delecia Holt and high school math teacher William Griffith. California Highway Patrol Sgt. Jeff Newsome released his returns, but a page was missing.

The records show that millionaire businessman Eric Roach gave the most to charity, with $87,000. But retired ship inspector Milton Gale gave the biggest percentage of his income, at 17 percent. Gale, who reported an income of $23,000, said most of his donations went to his church and his wife's church.

In addition to Gale, candidates who gave more than 10 percent of their income to charity in 2004 were Roach, former NFL player Scott Turner and defense contractor Scott Orren. Candidates who gave 10 percent were former state Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian and state Sen. Bill Morrow. Candidates who gave between 4 percent and 6 percent in 2004 were former bank officer Chris Young, former Del Mar Mayor Richard Earnest and businessmen Bill Hauf and Alan Uke. Lobbyist and former Rep. Brian Bilbray, Cardiff school board member Francine Busby, sales director Bill Boyer and businessman Paul King each gave less than 2 percent.

Among the donations, Kaloogian gave furniture to the Escondido Humane Society and Uke gave $4,000 to the Boy Scouts. Most of the other candidates' returns did not indicate who received their donations.

Many candidates had dependent children in 2004. Roach had the most dependents with five, while Orren had four. Bilbray and Young both had two. Morrow, Busby, Boyer and King each had one.

Three candidates – Gale, King and Young – had household incomes of less than the district average of $65,000.

In terms of pure wages, Turner earned the highest salary with $267,019 as a professional football player. Retired from the game, he is now a motivational speaker. The richest candidates, though, did not earn wages, but instead made their money with dividends and business income.

Roach took home $565,000 in dividends in 2004. Earnest's business income was $471,000. Uke made $596,000 from rental income. Hauf lost $167,000 from rental partnerships but made about that much on a real estate sale. Busby lost $3,000 on Microsoft stock in 2004, but gained $300 on Biogen IDEC.

On tax forms, filers are asked if they would like to contribute $3 to the presidential election campaign fund, which gives money to presidential candidates who adhere to spending limits. Of the 18 candidates, Republicans Uke, Turner and Gale contributed.